Judges sacked for watching porn

Three judges who allegedly viewed pornography on official IT equipment at work have been sacked and a fourth has resigned, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) has said.

The body has announced that District Judge Timothy Bowles, Immigration Judge Warren Grant and deputy district judge and Recorder Peter Bullock have been removed from judicial office. Recorder Andrew Maw resigned before the disciplinary process ended.

The material did not involve children or any other illegal content, but viewing it at work was “wholly unacceptable”, the JCIO said in a statement.

A Judicial Conduct Investigations Office spokesman said: “Three judges – District Judge Timothy Bowles; Immigration Judge Warren Grant; and Deputy District Judge and Recorder Peter Bullock – have been removed from judicial office following an investigation into an allegation that they viewed pornographic material on judicial IT equipment in their offices.

“The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice were satisfied that the material did not include images of children or any other illegal content, but concluded that this was an inexcusable misuse of their judicial IT accounts and wholly unacceptable conduct for a judicial office-holder.

“A fourth judge, Recorder Andrew Maw, was also found to have viewed similar inappropriate material via his judicial IT account.

“The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would likewise have removed Recorder Maw had he not resigned before the conclusion of the disciplinary process.

“The judges were not linked in any way.”

The JCIO said Judge Maw worked at Lincoln County Court, District Judge Bowles at Romford County Court, Judge Bullock on the North Eastern Circuit and Judge Grant at the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, First Tier Immigration Tribunal, based at Taylor House, London.

The JCIO said it would not reveal further details of its investigations into the judges’ conduct, nor how the allegations against the men came to light, stating this was also confidential.